Maitreya Buddha 1000 Offerings Puja & Initiation

Finally Day 3, the grand finale which we were all waiting for - The 1000 Offerings Puja & Initiation of Maitreya Buddha. This was what I was personally looking forward to for a long time, as I wanted to have the connection with Maitreya Buddha, and Lati Rinpoche was so compassionate to specifically request to confer the empowerment for everyone of us as well as to personally conduct the important ritual during the Maitreya offerings puja.

Buddha Maitreya is the next Buddha after Buddha Shakyamuni. He is the 5th Buddha and is the embodiment of the loving kindness of all Buddhas. According to the text, there will come a time when the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni will no longer exist, and beings' minds will be increasingly obscured by emotional afflictions and unhappiness. For thousands of years, beings will degenerate and misfortune will continue to grow, fraught by calamities, and their lifespans wil decrease to only ten years old.

At that time, driven by overwhelming compassion, Maitreya will manifest in the world as a great spiritual teacher, demonstrate the path of virtue and inspire countless beings by spreading the teaching of loving kindness. As the beings gradually abandon their delusions and negative actions, their lifespan increases, and after many ages, the life expectancy of humans will grow enormously and then slowly decrease again, until the human lifespan is about a hundred years.

Lati Rinpoche planted the seed of karmic connections with Buddha Maitreya during the puja, so that we can become Maitreya's disciples and receive his teachings directly, when Buddha Shakyamuni's doctrine has degenerated in this world.

The 7-Limb Offerings include:
1. Water - offering in mouth of holy beings
2. Water- offering for washing legs of holy beings
3. Flower - offering for pleasure of sight
4. Incense
5. Butterlamp - offering to destroy the darkness of ignorance
6. Perfume - offering for pleasure of scent
7. Torma - offering of ritual cake
8. Music

For the few thousands of people who were so blessed to receive this initiation, we should all rejoice, that we have received the blessings and guidance from Buddha Maitreya, the coming Buddha.

Om may meh tri yee soha
Om ma-tee ma-tee mri-tee soha
Om mohi mohi maha mohi soha!